Method and system for delivering products for human consumption from a manufacturing centre to passenger carrying vehicles

ABSTRACT

A system for delivering products for human consumption from a manufacturing center to passenger carrying vehicles comprises packaging the products in a manufacturing center into carriers. Each carrier carrying a plurality of products. The carriers are delivered in bulk to a distribution center. At the distribution center predetermined numbers of carriers are loaded into respective containers for distribution to the vehicles. In transit in the vehicles the products are distributed to the passengers from the containers.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention generally relates to a method and systemfor delivering products for human consumption from a manufacturingcentre to passenger carrying vehicles. The present invention isparticularly related to the delivery of meals for consumption bypassengers in a vehicle during transit of the vehicle e.g. an aircraftor train.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] On many forms of passenger carrying vehicles it is usual to servethe passengers with a meal. In passenger carrying vehicles where spaceis a premium e.g. trains and aeroplanes, the food is usually providedfor distribution in compact units such as trolleys to allow for easydistribution of food to the passengers.

[0003] The logistics of providing food to passenger carrying vehicles tomeet the vehicle schedule is complex. This distribution problem isfurther complicated by the need to comply strictly with hygieneregulations. Further, some food products are fragile and can easily bedamaged.

[0004] The airline industry is an area where a great deal of time andeffort is expended in providing passengers with high quality food.Traditional airline caterers purchase food ingredients which they cookand prepare in their kitchens. The prepared food is then placed inpackaging or onto trays which are loaded into trolleys. Traditionally,the number of trolleys and the number of meals loaded into the trolleysis tailored at the point of manufacture of the food to the requirementsof the aircraft to which the food is to be delivered. Thus, traditionalairline caterers require food production facilities in addition todistribution facilities. Although some products may be bought from foodmanufacturing centres, this is generally a minor part of the total mealbeing prepared.

[0005] Even when food is provided to passengers in the form of apackaged food item e.g. sandwiches, traditionally, sandwiches arereceived from a food manufacturer in bulk packaging e.g. cardboardboxes. The food items must then be unpacked and repacked into carrierssuitable for fitting into trolleys to go onto the vehicle e.g. aircraft.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a moreefficient distribution system which can incorporate better tracking andcontrols.

[0007] In accordance with the first aspect, the present inventionprovides a method of delivering products for human consumption from amanufacturing centre to passenger carrying vehicles. In a manufacturingcentre the products are packaged into carriers, where each carriercarries a number of products. The carriers are delivered in bulk e.g. ona palette to a distribution centre. At the distribution centrepredetermined numbers of the carriers are loaded into respectivecontainers for distribution to the vehicles. On the vehicles theproducts are distributed to passengers during transit.

[0008] In a preferred embodiment the containers comprise trolleys whichare pushed by attendants on the vehicles whilst serving the food andthus carriers are preferably adapted to fit the trolleys.

[0009] Thus this aspect of the present invention provides a significantstreamlining of the delivery system. The repackaging of the products atthe distribution centre is avoided thus saving time and effort andavoiding the wastage of packaging material. In the manufacturing centre,the manufacturer is provided with carriers into which they package theproducts. The products are thus passed right from the manufacturer tothe vehicles and are returned again to the manufacturer once used. Thisuse of the same carriers for packaging the products from themanufacturer right away to the vehicles simplifies not only the deliverylogistics, but also tracking procedures for food products as a means ofmonitoring compliance with hygiene regulations. Further, the avoidanceof repackaging of the food products greatly reduces the risk of damageto the products.

[0010] Thus this aspect of the present invention is particularly suitedto the distribution of food products which are fragile or subject tohygiene regulations.

[0011] In one embodiment the distribution centre comprises a hubdistribution centre, which receives the bulk packaged carriers. Spokedistribution centres are provided and are supplied with predeterminednumbers of containers by the hub distribution centre. At the spokedistribution centres the number of carriers in respective containers isadjusted in dependence upon the requirements of respective vehicles. Thecontainers are then distributed to the respective vehicles by the spokedistribution centres. Thus in this embodiment the spoke distributioncentres can be provided locally to the vehicle transit points. Becausethe spoke distribution centres only need carry out adjustments to thenumber of carriers in the containers and/or to adjust the number ofcontainers required for respective vehicles, the spoke distributioncentres can be of greatly reduced scale compared to the hub distributioncentre. Thus this embodiment has the advantage that for example for thesupply of aircraft meals, the airport food distribution centre can be ofgreatly reduced scale compared to a central hub distribution centre.This greatly reduces the cost of distribution since the cost of realestate in an airport or in the vicinity of an airport is usually muchhigher than the cost of real estate for a distribution centre providedremotely i.e. a remote hub distribution centre.

[0012] The present invention is particularly suited to an electronicordering and tracking system. Passenger vehicle operators canelectronically place an order for products with the caterer. The ordercan simply identify the number of passengers but can additionallyidentify special dietary requirements e.g. vegetarian. The order caneither be placed directly with the hub distribution centre or it can beplaced with a spoke distribution centre. The benefit of placing theorder with the spoke distribution centre is that the spoke distributioncentre can modify the order to take into account local factors. The hubdistribution centre will collate orders placed with the spokedistribution centres and will place an electronic order with themanufacturing centre for a bulk delivery of products in the carriers. Ifthe order for the products is not placed directly with the spokedistribution centres, the hub distribution centre will send electronicdata on the number of products required for respective vehicles to thespoke distribution centres. The spoke distribution centre will thendetermine the number of containers required to enable them to tailor theorder for each respective vehicle.

[0013] In order to provide for accurate tracking of products, in anembodiment of the present invention the carriers each include a uniqueelectronic tag. At points in the distribution the tags are detected anda computer system receives the detections to track the location and keepa history for each carrier. Thus each carrier of products can be trackedfrom the manufacturing centre to the vehicle. Further, the bulk deliveryof carriers from the manufacturing centre can be provided in one or morebulk carriers which each include an electronic tag. Thus when the bulkdelivery is made to the hub distribution centre, the tag of the bulkcarrier can be detected instead of having to detect all of the tags ofthe carriers in the bulk carrier. At the manufacturing centre when thebulk carrier is loaded with carriers, the tags for the bulk carriers canbe read and the computer system can store information identifying theidentities of the carriers loaded into the bulk carriers. Thus at thehub distribution centre, it is simply necessary to detect the tag of thebulk carrier in order to identify the carriers delivered.

[0014] In one embodiment, the carriers each include a temperaturedetector for detecting ambient temperature and for warning if thedetected temperature moves outside predetermined range or threshold.This feature can thus provide for the individual monitoring of carriersto determine their compliance with hygiene regulations. The temperaturedetector can comprise an electronic detector which can transmitinformation to the computer system for remote monitoring. Alternatively,the temperature detector can simply comprise a visible indicator toindicate if the ambient temperature for a carrier has moved outside apredetermined range or threshold.

[0015] A second aspect of the present invention provides a method ofdelivering meals to passenger carrying vehicles in which, at adistribution centre, packaged items are received from food preparingstations. The packaged items are assembled on a tray from a meal unitand the meal units are loaded into trolleys. The trolley are thendistributed to the vehicles for serving to passengers.

[0016] Thus this aspect of the present invention enables a distributioncentre to be quite separate to food preparing stations. There is no needfor example for an airline caterer to have food preparing facilities.The caterer can simply assemble preprepared food for delivery to theaircraft. The food preparing station can comprise restaurants because ofthe careful tracking and control procedures, restaurant food can beprovided. To complete the restaurant quality food delivered to thepassengers, a chef can carry out final preparations on each meal on thevehicle or at the spoke distribution centre.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017]FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a distribution centre inaccordance with the embodiment of the present invention,

[0018]FIG. 2 is a diagram of a bulk load of carriers, and

[0019]FIG. 3 is a diagram of a trolley and a carrier,

[0020]FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the hub and spoke distributionsystem in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0021]FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a distribution centre inaccordance with a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3illustrates the trolley 8 and carrier 7 in more detail whilst FIG. 2illustrates the bulk delivered containers in more detail.

[0022] At a food manufacturing centre, food products are manufacturedand packaged e.g. rolls, sandwiches, pies etc. These are then placed incarriers 7 in accordance with an order from a distribution centre 1. Thecarrier 7 will hold a designated number of any type of food products.Alternatively, the carrier 7 may be required to be filled with a mixtureof food products. This is dependent upon the order placed with the foodmanufacturer. Each carrier 7 has applied to it or incorporated in it aunique electronic tag. The tag can comprise any conventional electronictag such as an RF tag as will be understood by a skilled person in theart. The tag can be read by any form of tag reader such as a hand heldtag reader or a static tag reader mounted in for example a doorway.

[0023] Thus in order to fulfil an order, a food manufacturing centrewill package a number of carriers 7 into a bulk order 4 carried by apalette 4 a. The palette 4 a has mounted thereon or incorporated thereina unique electronic tag 6. Thus, when the bulk order 4 is put togetherat the food manufacturing centre, the tags 7 a of the carriers 7 whichform a bulk load 4 are read together with the tag 6 of the palette 4 a.This information is read and stored on a computer system and theinformation is transmitted to a computer system 12 at the distributioncentre 1 from which the order for the food products originated. In thisway a food manufacturing centre records and tracks food products whichleave the centre. The food products in each bulk order 4 are transportedby a vehicle 2 to the distribution centre 1. The bulk ordered products 4are then unloaded by fork lift truck 3 and as they are delivered intothe distribution centre 1, a tag reader 5 will detect the palette tag 6on the palette 4 a. The tag detections are transmitted to the computersystem 12 in which the detected palette tag 6 can be matched to theidentities of the carriers 7 carried on the palette 4 a. Thus thereading of the palette tag 6 avoids the necessity for attempting to readeach of the tags 7 a on each of the carriers 7. Alternatively howevereach of the tags 7 a could be detected in order to compare the expectedload on the palette 4 a with the load that the food manufacturing centrealleges to have delivered.

[0024] Where the products are subject to strict hygiene regulations andrequire refrigeration for example, the lorry 2 will comprise arefrigeration unit and within the distribution centre 1, the bulk orders4 will be stored in refrigerated conditions. In order to monitor thetemperature, each carrier 7 can include a temperature monitor with thetag 7 a. The temperature monitor can provide a warning if thetemperature range rises above that required for the food product. Themonitor can comprise an electronic arrangement for transmitting a signalto the computer system 12 to allow the remote monitoring of theconditions of the carriers 7. Alternatively a simple arrangement cancomprise a visible indicator e.g. a liquid crystal strip which willregister and display a warning if the temperature rises above athreshold. The warning will remain even after the temperature hasdropped to point out that the food products in the carrier 7 wereexposed to high temperatures for a predetermined period of timesufficient to raise a hygiene issue.

[0025] Within the distribution centre 1, the carriers 7 are unloadedfrom the palette 4 a and loaded into trolleys 8. The number of carriers7 loaded into the trolleys 8 and the number of trolleys 8 will dependupon the order placed for a passenger vehicle. An order can be fulfilledby loading the appropriate number of trolleys 8 with the appropriatenumber of carriers 7 which contain the appropriate number of products.Thus the trolleys 8 are loaded onto a truck 11 for distribution to thepassenger carrying vehicles, the trolleys 8 pass through a tag detector10 to detect the tags of the carriers 7 being delivered. The tagdetections are received by the computer system 12 in order to track themovement of the carriers 7. Thus in this way the movement of thecarriers 7 in and out of the distribution centre 1 can be detected.

[0026] The truck 11 will provide the required conditions for thedelivery of the food products e.g. it will comprise a refrigeration unitand will deliver the trolleys 8 to the aircraft. In such circumstancesthe distribution centre 1 comprises the sole distribution centre. In analternative embodiment the distribution centre 1 comprises the hubdistribution centre which receives the products directly from the foodmanufacturing centre. The hub distribution centre will then distributethe product to spoke distribution centres. Thus in FIG. 1 the trolleys 8are filled with carriers 7 and the truck 11 delivers the trolleys 8 tothe spoke distribution centres. Within the spoke distribution centres,the number of carriers 7 within the trolleys 8 is adjusted as necessaryin order to accurately fulfil the order from the passenger vehicleoperator.

[0027] It can thus be seen from FIG. 1 that food products delivered fromthe food manufacturing centre are not repackaged. The carriers 7 aresimply redistributed into trolleys 8. This greatly reduces the handlingof the food products thereby making it easier to comply with hygieneregulations. Further, there is no requirement to repackage the productsand there is thus no wastage of packing material or time and moneyexpended in wasted repackaging. Further, the use of a single carrierfrom the point of manufacture to the point of use on the passengervehicle facilitates better control and tracking of delivery.

[0028] In addition to the tags on the carriers 7 and the palettes 4 a,tags 9 can also be provided on the trolleys 8. This enables the trolleys8 to be tracked. It can also enable the tag detector 10 to simply detectthe trolley 8 passing thereby. If the tags 7 a of the carriers 7 areread when the trolley 8 is loaded, and matched with the tag 9 of thetrolley, the computer system 12 will have a record of the carriers 7loaded in the trolleys 8. Thus the detection of the tags 9 of thetrolleys 8 and the tag detector 10 is sufficient for the computer systemto know which carriers 7 have been loaded on the truck 11.

[0029]FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the hub and spoke distributionsystem in which there are three hubs 20, 21, 22 provided at separatelocations and is connected by high speed communication lines 23 a and 23b for the exchange of data therebetween. Each hub 20, 21, 22 isconnected to a spoke distribution centre 40 a, 40 b, 41 a, 41 b, 42 a,42 b, 42 c and 42 d respectively. A food manufacturing centre 30 isconnected to each of the hubs 20, 21 and 22 via a communication line 25.

[0030] In this embodiment each spoke distribution centre is located ator near an airport or train station to provide airline or rail cateringfacilities. At each spoke orders will be received from airlines or railoperators being served in respect of food to be provided for specificjourneys. This information can be electronically received and is passedfrom the spokes to the respective hub distribution centres 20, 21 and22. The hub distribution centre 20 will collate all of the orders inorder to form a bulk order for groups which is transmitted to the foodmanufacturer 30. When the goods are delivered by the food manufacturer30 to the hub distribution centre 20, the hub distribution centre 20, 21and 22 uses the information received from the spoke distribution centresi.e. the orders from the airlines or rail operators in order todetermine how to distribute the products to the spoke distributioncentres. Thus within the hub distribution centres 20, 21, 22 the bulkorders received from the food manufacturers 30 are split and distributedto the spoke distribution centres. As described hereinabove withreference to FIG. 1, this redistribution is carried out by placing thecarriers 7 into trolleys 8 so that the spoke distribution centres simplyhave to adjust the number of carriers 7 required for each flight. Thespoke distribution centre needs to carry out no repackaging or evenmovement of carriers 7 into different stored units.

[0031] In an alternative embodiment, the airlines can place ordersdirectly with the hub distribution centres 20, 21 and 22. The benefit ofthe receiving orders from the spoke distribution centres is that thespoke distribution centres can take into account local factors. Forexample, it may be known that because of a pricing policy, although anumber of passengers have booked flights, not all passengers will turnup for those flights. Thus although the airline may request food foreach passenger, it may not be necessary to supply that number. The ordercan thus be adjusted accordingly.

[0032] In another embodiment of the present invention, where meals areprovided to passengers on a tray, each tray is assembled into a mealunit within the distribution centre 1. The tray will comprise thecarrier 7 and the trays will be individually loaded into the trolley 8in the conventional manner. However, in the distribution centre 1 thereis provided no food manufacturing capability. Food is deliveredpre-packaged from a remote food manufacturing centre. In thedistribution centre 1 the received packaged food items are assembledonto a tray in order to assemble a meal unit. In this way, there is nohandling of food except in packaged form within the distribution centre.In this way specialist food manufacturing centres can be utilised formanufacturing food and the distribution centre merely needs to assemblethe food into meal units. This enables restaurants to be used as foodmanufacturing centres. The distribution centre will simply assemble therestaurant cooked food. The handling of the food within the distributioncentre 1 is reduced and so long as careful control of the temperature ofthe food items and the date of the food items is carefully monitored,the necessary hygiene regulations can be met.

[0033] Although the present invention has been described herein abovewith reference to specific embodiments, it will be apparent to a skilledpersonnel in the art that modifications lie within the spirit and scopeof the present invention.

[0034] For example, although the present invention has been describedwith reference to food items, the present invention is applicable to anyfood or drink items and particularly to food and drink items which arefragile or subject to hygiene regulations.

[0035] In the embodiments tags are described for the containers. Anysuitable tag or unique identifying system can be used which can beelectronically read remotely e.g. a microchip or RF tag. Although in theembodiments fixed tag detectors are used, the present invention isapplicable to any type of tag detector including mobile tag detectors.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of delivering products for humanconsumption from a manufacturing centre to passenger carrying vehicles,the method comprising: in a manufacturing centre, packaging the productsinto carriers, each carrier carrying a plurality of products; deliveringthe carriers in bulk to a distribution centre; and at the distributioncentre, loading predetermined numbers of the carriers into respectivecontainers for distribution to the vehicles enabling the products to bedistributed to passengers on the vehicle in transit.
 2. A methodaccording to claim 1 wherein the containers comprise trolleys and thecarriers are adapted to fit the trolleys.
 3. A method according to claim1 wherein the distribution centre comprises a hub distribution centre,the method including distributing predetermined numbers of containersfrom the hub distribution centre to respective spoke distributioncentres, and at the spoke distribution centres adjusting the numbers ofcarriers in respective said containers in dependence upon therequirements for respective vehicles and distributing the containers tothe respective vehicles.
 4. A method according to claim 2 wherein thedistribution centre comprises a hub distribution centre, the methodincluding distributing predetermined numbers of containers from the hubdistribution centre to respective spoke distribution centres, and at thespoke distribution centres adjusting the numbers of carriers inrespective said containers in dependence upon the requirements forrespective vehicles and distributing the containers to the respectivevehicles.
 5. A method according to claim 1 wherein the containers aredistributed to the vehicles from the distribution centre, and thepredetermined number of carriers loaded into respective containers isdependant upon the required number for respective vehicles.
 6. A methodaccording to claim 2 wherein the containers are distributed to thevehicles from the distribution centre, and the predetermined number ofcarriers loaded into respective containers is dependant upon therequired number for respective vehicles.
 7. A method according to claim3 including receiving an electronic order at the hub distribution centrefor products from product distributors who distribute the products tothe passengers on the vehicle and placing an electronic order with themanufacturing centre for a bulk delivery of products in the carriers;and receiving electronic data at the spoke distribution centres on thenumber of products required for respective vehicles and determining thenumber of containers required.
 8. A method according to claim 4including receiving an electronic order at the hub distribution centrefor products from product distributors who distribute the products tothe passengers on the vehicle and placing an electronic order with themanufacturing centre for a bulk delivery of products in the carriers;and receiving electronic data at the spoke distribution centres on thenumber of products required for respective vehicles and determining thenumber of containers required.
 9. A method according to claim 7 whereinthe electronic order for products is received first by respective spokedistribution centres and passed on to the hub distribution centre, thespoke distribution centres being able to adjust the number of productsin the order according to local circumstances.
 10. A method according toclaim 8 wherein the electronic order for products is received first byrespective spoke distribution centres and passed on to the hubdistribution centre, the spoke distribution centres being able to adjustthe number of products in the order according to local circumstances.11. A method according to claim 3 wherein said carriers each include anelectronic tag, the method including detecting the tags at predeterminedpoints during delivery, transmitting data on the detections to acomputer system to track the location and keep a history for eachcarrier.
 12. A method according to claim 4 wherein said carriers eachinclude an electronic tag, the method including detecting the tags atpredetermined points during delivery, transmitting data on thedetections to a computer system to track the location and keep a historyfor each carrier.
 13. A method according to claim 7 wherein saidcarriers each include an electronic tag, the method including detectingthe tags at predetermined points during delivery, transmitting data onthe detections to a computer system to track the location and keep ahistory for each carrier.
 14. A method according to claim 8 wherein saidcarriers each include an electronic tag, the method including detectingthe tags at predetermined points during delivery, transmitting data onthe detections to a computer system to track the location and keep ahistory for each carrier.
 15. A method according to claim 9 wherein saidcarriers each include an electronic tag, the method including detectingthe tags at predetermined points during delivery, transmitting data onthe detections to a computer system to track the location and keep ahistory for each carrier.
 16. A method according to claim 10 whereinsaid carriers each include an electronic tag, the method includingdetecting the tags at predetermined points during delivery, transmittingdata on the detections to a computer system to track the location andkeep a history for each carrier.
 17. A method according to claim 11wherein the carriers are delivered in at least one bulk carrier to thedistribution centre, the at least one bulk carrier including anelectronic tag, the tag is detected at the manufacturing centre and atthe distribution centre, the detections are transmitted to a computersystem to track the delivery of the bulk carrier, and when the bulkcarrier is loaded with carriers at the manufacturing centre, informationon the carriers loaded in the bulk carrier is transmitted to thecomputer system.
 18. A method according to claim 12 wherein the carriersare delivered in at least one bulk carrier to the distribution centre,the at least one bulk carrier including an electronic tag, the tag isdetected at the manufacturing centre and at the distribution centre, thedetections are transmitted to a computer system to track the delivery ofthe bulk carrier, and when the bulk carrier is loaded with carriers atthe manufacturing centre, information on the carriers loaded in the bulkcarrier is transmitted to the computer system.
 19. A method according toclaim 13 wherein the carriers are delivered in at least one bulk carrierto the distribution centre, the at least one bulk carrier including anelectronic tag, the tag is detected at the manufacturing centre and atthe distribution centre, the detections are transmitted to a computersystem to track the delivery of the bulk carrier, and when the bulkcarrier is loaded with carriers at the manufacturing centre, informationon the carriers loaded in the bulk carrier is transmitted to thecomputer system.
 20. A method according to claim 14 wherein the carriersare delivered in at least one bulk carrier to the distribution centre,the at least one bulk carrier including an electronic tag, the tag isdetected at the manufacturing centre and at the distribution centre, thedetections are transmitted to a computer system to track the delivery ofthe bulk carrier, and when the bulk carrier is loaded with carriers atthe manufacturing centre, information on the carriers loaded in the bulkcarrier is transmitted to the computer system.
 21. A method according toclaim 15 wherein the carriers are delivered in at least one bulk carrierto the distribution centre, the at least one bulk carrier including anelectronic tag, the tag is detected at the manufacturing centre and atthe distribution centre, the detections are transmitted to a computersystem to track the delivery of the bulk carrier, and when the bulkcarrier is loaded with carriers at the manufacturing centre, informationon the carriers loaded in the bulk carrier is transmitted to thecomputer system.
 22. A method according to claim 16 wherein the carriersare delivered in at least one bulk carrier to the distribution centre,the at least one bulk carrier including an electronic tag, the tag isdetected at the manufacturing centre and at the distribution centre, thedetections are transmitted to a computer system to track the delivery ofthe bulk carrier, and when the bulk carrier is loaded with carriers atthe manufacturing centre, information on the carriers loaded in the bulkcarrier is transmitted to the computer system.
 23. A method according toany one of claims 11 to 22 wherein the carriers each include atemperature detector for detecting ambient temperature, the temperaturedetector warning if the detected temperature moves outside apredetermined range or threshold.
 24. A method according to claim 1 orclaim 2 wherein the products are fragile or subject to hygieneregulations.
 25. A delivery tracking system for tracking the delivery ofproducts for human consumption from a manufacturing centre to passengercarrying vehicles, the system comprising: a plurality of carriers, eachcarrier having a unique electronic tag and being adapted to carry aplurality of products for human consumption; tag detectors located atthe manufacturing centre and at a distribution centre for detecting thetags; a computer system for receiving tag detections and for trackingthe delivery of the products and delivery history for each carrier. 26.A delivery tracking system according to claim 15 including tag detectorsfor detecting carriers delivered to the vehicles.
 27. A deliverytracking system according to claim 25 or claim 26 wherein each carrierincludes a temperature detector for detecting ambient temperature andfor generating warning when the temperature moves outside apredetermined temperature range or threshold, and the computer system isadapted to receive any warnings and record the time of the warnings forcarriers.
 28. A delivery tracking system according to claim 25 whereinthe carriers are adapted to fit trolleys for distributing the productsto passengers on the vehicle in transit.
 29. A method of deliveringmeals to passenger carrying vehicles, the method comprising: at adistribution centre, receiving separately packaged items from foodpreparing stations; assembling the separately packaged items on a trayto form a meal unit, and loading the meal units into trolleys; anddistributing the trolleys to the vehicles.
 30. A method according toclaim 29 wherein the food preparing stations comprise restaurants, themethod including carrying out final preparation on each meal unit on thevehicle by a chef before serving to the passengers.
 31. A methodaccording to claim 29 including controlling the ambient temperature ofthe food from delivery from the food preparing stations to delivery tothe vehicles.
 32. A carrier for use in the method of claim 2 comprising:a structure having a base and sides, the sides having grooves thereinfor cooperation with ridges on the inside walls of trolleys to hold thecarriers; and a unique electronic tag.